The food processing sector plays an important role in increasing farm income and creating off-farm jobs, reducing post-harvest losses in agriculture and allied sector production through on- and off-farm investments in preservation and processing infrastructure. Accordingly, Ministry of Food Processing Industries has undertaken several initiatives to give impetus to development of food processing sector in the country and has made significant achievements in its schemes during the year of 2024.

India's exports to Australia grew 14% since the signing of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) with textiles, chemicals, and agriculture growing substantially, and new lines, including gold studded with diamonds and turbojets highlighting the diversification enabled by the agreement, the government said Sunday.

Addressing a gathering of Multi-Stakeholder Convention on 'RevivingAgro-Biodiversity in Rainfed Areas through Traditional Varieties for Climate-Resilient Agriculture' in New Delhi, the Union Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi emphasized the need to promote traditional varieties of agriculture and horticulture. He said that his Ministry is keen to promote traditional varieties through various schemes related to agriculture and horticulture, such as NMNF, Farmers' Producer Organizations (FPOs), Seed Development programs and NFSM. Describing the importance of traditional varieties he said that it has unique traits such as better taste, aroma, color, cooking quality, and nutritional richness etc. 

A potential trade war between the United States (US) and China under the Donald Trump presidency could create an additional $25-billion export opportunity in the US for Indian exporters, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said on Thursday during a pre-Budget consultation at the Finance Ministry with FM Nirmala Sitharaman and government officials.

India has filed an appeal with the European Court of Justice following the European Union's refusal to grant access to the Annexures accompanying Pakistan's application for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, The News reported citing an Indian news outlet.

Food safety regulator FSSAI has ordered licensed food manufacturers and importers to submit quarterly data on rejected and expired food items through its online compliance system FOSCOS to prevent their resale for human consumption.

The ECGC is aiming to reduce the export credit gap through the WT-ECIB scheme, which is expected to benefit about 1,000 new small exporters, in addition to the existing 8,000-odd by facilitating the availability of adequate and affordable export finance from banks for working capital, an official statement said.

India’s exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by over 8% to $14.01 billion during the April-November periods of the current fiscal year compared to FY24 after the government removed most of the restrictions on rice shipment a couple of months back.

India is enhancing trade through FTA agreements and leveraging them to ensure certainty in market access, non-discriminatory treatment and a transparent and objective regulatory environment for services exports.

India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on 10th March 2024. EFTA countries comprise of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway & Liechtenstein. The TEPA is under the ratification process in the national parliament or legislature of each EFTA country. TEPA marks India's first FTA with an important economic bloc in Europe. Under TEPA, EFTA has committed to promote foreign direct investments by USD 100 billion in India in the next 15 years, and to facilitate the generation of 1 million direct employment in India, through such investments. TEPA is expected to give impetus to "Make in India" and Atmanirbhar Bharat by encouraging domestic manufacturing.